Initial Certificate Holders Moving to Standard Teachers who have four years of Teaching Experience and have met the Professional
Development Requirements

The Educator Certification System (ECS) allows teachers to log in all applicable professional development for certificate renewal. The following is a step by step overview of entering professional development:

Electronically:

  1. Log into the Educator Certification System at www.isbe.net/ecs.
  2. Log into your private account (if you do not already have an account, select Create Account).
  3. Once you are logged in, select Professional Development and Renewal.
  4. Next select Professional Development Activity. This will allow you to start entering your professional development activities onto the system. Please note, you will need to log in each activity separately.

Submitting your Statement of Assurance
A Statement of Assurance is an electronic statement verifying that you have completed all of the professional development activities that you listed on the Educator Certification System (ECS). In essence, it is confirmation that you have met all professional development requirements. Once you have entered all of the applicable professional development onto ECS, select Statement of Assurance. Next select Submit/Review Statement of Assurance. Ensure that everyting listed is accurate and select Submit the Statement of Assurance. When submitting your Statement of Assurance for the move from initial to standard level certification, the system will ask you a series of questions regarding your teaching experience. Please answer all questions as accurately as possible.

Important note: although you are not initially required to submit evidence of completion of professional development activities, please retain all records as a certain number of teachers will be audited during their subsequent certification cycle.

Letters of Teaching Experience
In order to be approved to apply for the standard certificate, you must also submit letter(s) verifying four years of teaching experience. Your letter(s) of teaching experience must include the nature and duration of your teaching experience. The letter(s) must also be on school or district letterhead and signed by your school district administrator. Once you have submitted your Statement of Assurance, please fax letters of teaching experience as soon as possible to one of the three Regional Offices.

Please note: You cannot be approved for the move from initial to standard level certificate until you provide letters of teaching experience to the Illinois State Board of Education showing four full years of experience on a valid certificate.

Checking the Educator Certification System for Approval Status
To check your approval status:

  1. Log into your Educator Certification System www.isbe.net/ecs account
  2. Select Professional Development and Renewal
  3. Select Statement of Assurance. You will see either a P or YES under both the ROE and ISBE levels. The letter P indicates that your Statement of Assurance is still pending. The word YES means that your Statement of Assurance has been approved at that level. Once you secure the approval of the ROE and ISBE (indicated by YES for each level) you may submit an application for the standard level certificate.
  4. To apply for the standard level certificate while logged into ECS, select Applications and then Initial to Standard Application and follow the prompts. The fee is $30 per standard certificate. If you have more than one initial certificate, you must apply for multiple standard certificates.
  5. After your standard certificate is issued, you will also need to register the certificate. In order to be valid, all Illinois certificates must be registered with the Regional Superintendent of Schools where the certificate holder works or lives. Registration fees are calculated at $5 per year of a certificate's validity. For instance, a five year standard teaching certificate would require a total amount of $25 in registration fees (5 years x $5 per year = $25). If your standard certificate is not already registered, you may do so on the Educator Certification System by clicking Register Certificates.

If applying for or registering certificates on ECS, applicants must use a credit card. An additional $1.75 convenience fee will be charged for each credit card transaction completed on ECS.

Paper Procedure

The following paperwork needs to be submitted to the ROE:

  1. Completed ISBE Form 73-03 Application for Teaching Certificate. Please sign in both designated areas and answer all yes/no questions.
  2. Completed ISBE Form 73-10 Certification Registration. Please sign in both designated areas and answer all yes/no questions.
  3. Completed ISBE Form 73-97 Statement of Assurance
  4. Letter(s) from the school district(s) verifying four full years of teaching experience
  5. Application and registration fees

For further information on professional development activities, please click on one of the following:

Professional Development Options (complete one)

Link: Professional Development Providers